No way is it long enough for many cases. especially involving more than one child, a child with disability or a care plan for adoption. Our case will conclude at 36 weeks but even now it appears that's there's so many holes in the evidence even after expert reports that it might have to be adjourned. If they won't adjourn it we be appealing as our right to family life and fair trial are being breached.

Children deserve the right to have their voices heard and for Local Authorities to work with families and not against them. This 26 timeframe prevents the courts from putting a family plan in place to make life happier and safer for children at home. It also prevents parents adequate time to seek mental health, financial recovery, and better support structures around them. I was shocked and dismayed that the 26 weeks starts from when the children are taken into care and how slow investigations are handled by the court and professionals.

my son was taken into care in December 2016,mainly for behaviour disorder,however he has global delay ( late development),however during his foster care he has apparently made allogatiions of abuse against me and my partner,all of which are totally unfounded, 'I might add, we havent had contact for 7 weeks and children services will not respond to either of us or our legal team,the last LAC we were barred from attending,the whole case is a complete fabrication on child services part,we were handed a document that actual gives a change of focus from foster care to permanent adoption and absolutley no proffessional interaction with parents before this is achieved,there is no court order for this. child services are actively working against us ,so there is no way this 26 week debarcle can reach a conclusion in that time.
when he was taken my parents were assessed for foster care and failed ,the report they got reflected what they said while being assessed,the report everyone else got was the most damning condemnation of me and my wife I have read,and we have evidence to suggest that child services hacked one of our email accounts ,side lining my parents emails to me and replacing them with horrific emails saying" your a bully don,t ever come to our house again",needless to say our family is above all that so we went ,after 4 months to see my parents and we concluded that what I have just recalled really did happen We are going to loose our little boy whom we love most dearly to a system that is under handed and corrupt and thinks it is above the law the trouble is family courts seem to think they are too.

JOHNT wrote:my son was taken into care in December 2016,mainly for behaviour disorder,however he has global delay ( late development),however during his foster care he has apparently made allogatiions of abuse against me and my partner,all of which are totally unfounded, 'I might add, we havent had contact for 7 weeks and children services will not respond to either of us or our legal team,the last LAC we were barred from attending,the whole case is a complete fabrication on child services part,we were handed a document that actual gives a change of focus from foster care to permanent adoption and absolutley no proffessional interaction with parents before this is achieved,there is no court order for this. child services are actively working against us ,so there is no way this 26 week debarcle can reach a conclusion in that time.
when he was taken my parents were assessed for foster care and failed ,the report they got reflected what they said while being assessed,the report everyone else got was the most damning condemnation of me and my wife I have read,and we have evidence to suggest that child services hacked one of our email accounts ,side lining my parents emails to me and replacing them with horrific emails saying" your a bully don,t ever come to our house again",needless to say our family is above all that so we went ,after 4 months to see my parents and we concluded that what I have just recalled really did happen We are going to loose our little boy whom we love most dearly to a system that is under handed and corrupt and thinks it is above the law the trouble is family courts seem to think they are too.

Hi

Welcome to the Parents Board and thank you for posting.

I am sorry to hear that your son has been removed from your care and since being in care he has made allegations of abuse about you and your wife. From what you say, it seems that you are in care proceedings and that you have been barred from the looked after child review meetings. It may be helpful for you to ask the social worker or the independent reviewing officer the reasons for barring you. You have said that you have a copy of the care plan for your child – Children’s Services are obliged to give this to you, and as you say it includes all of the permanence options for your son; this too must be in the care plan. It is unfortunate that your parents were assessed to care for your son but were unsuccessful. We have some FAQs about family and friends assessments and what can be done if you are not approved.

If you are concerned that Children’s Services have shared information about you the Information Commissioner may be able to help you, or you could ask the local authority what information is being held about you through a subject access request.

If you would like to discuss your situation in more detail with us please call our advice line which is open Monday to Friday, 9.30am to 3.00pm on 0808 801 0366 or please post further questions.

Hi, I am really sorry to hear about ur son, the LA are wrong to take ur son, I am going through the same, I got told when it was to late that I could of appealed with in 28 day of the court,, I’m having so much trouble with the LA they are lying to my children that have been took in care, through no fault of mine but tbh the same as u, but LA are tellin* my 2 children that I neglected them nd left them at home on there own which I would NEVER do that, and now my children are blaming me nd the relationship I had with the children I have lost, please be careful because LA will turn ur son away from you, I have lost all funding now so I’m struggling to talk to a Solictor because of cost all I want to do is get my children home. The court had said stuff that should happen regarding ur son but the LA can change it with out it going back to court, don’t know why but they so I can’t understand why it went court in the first place, I had nearly 10 months of the court before the court had made the decision, but had schools against me as well, nd that’s who the court listens to, but it made my children worse where they behaviour was bad it’s a lot worse now, I don’t know what more I can help you but try nd get appeal before it’s to late nd get ur son back before u go through what I am nd u have no Solictor gud luck

My children were removed from me social services never officially informed me my ex husband thought he was having them for a couple of days My husband left after committing adultery There has been domestic violence husband threatened to finish me off and threatened to run me over with my children in his car social services told him to get me arrested to fighten me which he did i was in a cell for 14hrs no charge My husband has hurt my daughter causing bruising she refuses to stay at his house now under sec 20 livi g at a friends house my son is living with my ex husband and new patner both my children share bedrooms where they are living separatley ive been seen by my GP no concerns over my mental health social services are asking for psychiatric assessment we have been in PLO for nearly eight weeks no appointment for assesment in the last eight weeks ive had no feed back or communication with regards to my childrens well being and how they are coping from the childrens social worker my daughter on contact asks constantly when she is coming home ive been told my daughter is refusing to speak with social workers my daughter has always had behaviour problems ive been trying to get her into kamms for help shes adopted social services now blame parenting behaviours on my daughters behaviours i have contact in the community with my daughter we live in a rural village i have to find venues to spend my contact time with my daughter as she refuses to come to the contact centre i see my son in a contact centre. My son is not under a section 20 i am currently unemployed find to hard to get employment due to me meeting my childrens contact arrangements spread over four days ive been to job centre but no new employer will accommodate the ammount of time off i require due to contact arrangements. So im self funding myself as my ex husband lives in our other house no morgage i live in family home mortgaged i have too many assets to claim benifits when i try to discuss this with social services they say its about the children and they view it im putting myself before the children yet i have to provide for my children and pay for venues to meet my daughter for contact. Social services deem me a higher risk than my husband due to my mental health which still has not been proven.

I am sorry that your post has not received a response before now due to a high volume of posts.

You have not in your post given an indication of why children’s services (new name for social services) considered it unsafe for your children to be in your care and had to be removed. Normally, if children are removed children’s services has to consider other family members with whom children can be placed before they are placed with strangers. I am sorry that the social worker did not make it clear to you that the intention was for your children to be out of your care for a period of time.

What were the concerns about your care of the children that led to children’s services? Were your children on child protection plans before they were removed? You say you have been in the PLO process for 8 weeks. This suggests that children’s services have concerns which could lead them to make an application to the court for care orders in relation to your children.

You say that your ex-husband threatened to run you over but you ended up being arrested.

Has the social worker carried out any parenting assessment of you and your ex-husband to decide who can safely parent the children? You say that you are deemed to pose a higher risk than your ex-husband due to your mental health. Have you had mental health issues in the past, did something happen that led the social worker to form the view that you have mental health issues?

As your daughter has been placed with your friend under s.20 voluntary accommodation, this means she is a looked after child and children’s services have particular duties when children are in the care system. Please read our advice sheet regarding this Duties on Children’s Services when children are in the care system. Ask the social worker for the name of the independent reviewing officer (IRO) responsible for your daughter’s care plan and discuss your concerns with the IRO about the lack of information regarding your daughter. You should also have received a care and placement plan from the social worker when your daughter was placed with your friend, if you have not received this, ask the social worker why not.

You should be invited to looked after child reviews (LAC) for your daughter. If one has not yet taken place, ask the social worker or IRO when this is scheduled. It is important that you attend this so you can put any concerns you have to the meeting as well.

There is no section 20 for your son as he has been placed with his father who shares parental responsibility for him with you. The social worker should discuss any plans or concerns regarding your son with both of you.

I suggest that you write a letter to the social worker setting out clearly and concisely the matters that are of concern. You request information about when a referral will be made for the psychiatric assessment; if a parenting assessment has not been done, when will this happen. Ask for a written response from th social worker. It is important to have things in writing so there can be no misunderstanding about what was said and who will undertake specific tasks.

If you do not get information about your daughter then you could ask to speak to the social worker’s team manager or consider making a complaint. Our advice sheet relating to complaints is here Challenging decisions and making complaintsfor your information.

Should you wish to speak to an adviser, please telephone our free, confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday (except Bank Holidays).

In september it will be over the 26 weeks by 7 weeks this is for IRH .. my situation is like being the main character in a horror movie/ true life drama.
From day one this has been a co-ordinated plan of destruction of my life by my mother in law. from day one I can prove the lies. . The origional LA and social worker have failed in their jobs . The social worker responsible for my children not coming home is off sick and has been since I complained. That was february 23rd. Still no response to the questions raised regarding c+f assessment. Proceedings was private law until the judge seen my email and information and put ICO on all three children but let them remain with their father who has been convicted of manslaughter . They have based all of this from manipulation by my ex and his family .. no fact finding necessary.. apparently .i just don't believe what is happening . I think the process is necessary in exceeding 26 weeks in some cases.. but in my case I have lost everything due to these proceedings.. im broken in every way possible and im to forget the past and get over being abused . Ive not seen my daughter for 6 months and its parental alienation . My children are going through hell and sw they appear fine .. well i know my children and i know different.